The Wake Forest Woman’s Club will host its first annual Shamrockin’ Casino Gala on Friday, March 16, 2018 at Cross & Main in Youngsville from 7 to 11 p.m. Funds raised will go to many of the charities the club supports, including The Purple Heart Foundation, Note in the Pocket, Safe Space and Meals on Wheels. Tickets are $65 each, which includes heavy hors d’oeuvres, two drink tickets, one raffle ticket and $5,000 play money. The $65 tickets are available now at three downtown Wake Forest locations: Parler Properties, Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce and Ollies Gifts, all on South White Street.

The 2018 Koinonia Cares Charity Auction will be held where The Koinonia Foundation began, the Wake Forest Baptist Church, on Saturday, March 24, from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Formed in 1990 by the Koinonia Sunday School Class at Wake Forest Baptist to help the disadvantaged in the community, The Koinonia Foundation of Wake Forest has grown to be an interdenominational non-profit providing financial support for organizations that address human needs which are not otherwise adequately funded and periodically to individuals demonstrating a critical need. The event features a full dinner and a silent and live auction of unique items and valuable services donated by local businesses, artists and individuals. Tickets are $20 per person and only 175 will be sold. Tickets may be purchased online at www.koinoniaWF.org or at these downtown Wake Forest locations: Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce, 350 South White Street Ollies Café & Gifts, 213 South White Street

Sponsored by the Wake Forest Cemetery Advisory Board and the Town of Wake Forest, the annual Cemetery Walking Tour offers unique insight into the lives of Wake Forest residents from generations past. Docents will be stationed at various family plots throughout the cemetery to share interesting stories about specific gravesites, as well as small artifacts and photographs of loved ones bearing their ancestral names. Representatives of the Wake Forest Junior ROTC, under the direction of Colonel Dimitri Belmont, will appear as color guard in the opening ceremony. The JROTC will also provide parking and other assistance. Parents are encouraged to bring their children. This year there will be a special children’s hand-out highlighting interesting artifacts on the grounds. Designed for interaction between a child and their parents or accompanying adult, the photos and sites will help educate them about the historical significance of the cemetery as they locate significant places during the self-guided tour. This event is free

Streets, Roads, Greenways and Transportation * Preliminary work by the contractor, Fred Smith Company, began March 5 on the Stadium Drive Complete Street project. The town board approved the $6,789,876 contract with the Fred Smith Company in December. Utilities have been moved. The project should be complete in the fall of 2019. The project includes resurfacing North Avenue. There will be a roundabout at the intersection of Stadium, North Avenue and Wingate Street. A center turn lane will be added to Stadium along with turn lanes at intersections and driveways and bump-outs for buses. From Glencoe Drive to the Richland Creek bridge there will be a 10-foot multi-use path on the south and a 5-foot sidewalk on the north. From the bridge to Wingate Street there will be sidewalks on both sides. *Ligon Mill Road Operational Improvements is also listed as being in construction but Director of Engineering Eric Keravuori

This month’s Business After Hours will be held at Cross+Main at 201 East Main Street in Youngsville and Rocky Top Catering will provide the appetizers and beverages. See you there from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 15. * * * * There are still unsold tickets for the Community Raffle jointly sponsored by the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce and Food Lion. Remember, the drawing will be held May 5. A $50 ticket gives you a chance at the 15 prizes, including the grand prize of $10,000. Tri-Area Ministry Food Pantry will receive $5,000. Only 1,500 tickets will be sold, giving you a 1 in 100 chance to win a prize. Tickets can be bought in person at the Wake Forest Chamber, 350 S. White Street, or at B & W Hardware Company, 232 S. White Street. You can also purchase tickets online at https://go.rallyup.com/wfcommunityraffle. * * * *

If you have been a subscriber to The Wake Forest Gazette and now find you are not receiving weekly notices that the new issue is on line, the problem lies in the software for the paper’s email service, Mailchimp. If a subscriber’s inbasket is full or if there are other reasons why the email would not accept the Gazette notice, it will be listed as bumped. If that condition continues, Mailchimp will list that subscriber as unsubscribed and stop sending notices. To remedy the situation, if you want to receive the weekly notices, please re-subscribe by going to www.wakeforestgazette.com, find “Subscribe” on the first page and enter your information.

Below is a list of groups – and if your group is not included and should be – please send a note with the information to cwpelosi@aol.com. If the information about your group is wrong or out of date, please send a note with the corrections to that same email address. Aren’t we lucky to have so many groups that benefit our town and its resident! * American Legion Post 187 meets the second Thursday at 7 p.m. in the American Legion Hall at 225 East Holding Avenue. The dinner begins at 6 p.m. and costs $5. For information and membership, call Commander Dave Goetze at 569-0471 or visit www.alpost187.org. * American Heritage Girls (AHG) meets at 6:30 p.m. at Hope Lutheran Church on Rogers Road on the second and fourth Thursdays. Contact Amy Minor at chrisnamy34@hotmail.com or see the website, www.hopelutheranwf.org. * The General James Moore Chapter of the

*The Wake Forest Farmers Market will be open from 10 a.m. to noon (winter hours) Saturday, March 10, in Renaissance Plaza on Brooks Street. Local farmers and artisans will offer meats, seasonal vegetables, bread and baked goods and other local wares. See the market’s Facebook page for information about the vendors. *Monday Night Bingo at The Factory is hosted by the Wake Forest Kiwanis Club in the Mill Room from 7 to 9:30 p.m. every Monday night. All profits support the club’s projects for children. Visit www.wakeforestbingo.com for more information. *Tri-Area Ministry Food Pantry at 149 East Holding Avenue is now open from 9 to 11 a.m. every third Saturday along with its regular hours on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for food distribution. It serves about 700 families in Wake Forest, Youngsville, Rolesville and their surrounding areas. Call 919-556-7144 for information about receiving food, volunteering